ABSTRACT
When Berryer took over as naval minister on 1 November 1758 he fully supported his predecessor’s plan to send eight ships of the line to Martinique, but could not persuade the king and council to agree. It was a moment when French policy was directionless: Bernis’s attention was fixed on making peace, and Choiseul did not take office as foreign minister until December. The Toulon squadron, normally available for West Indian service, was slow to recover from its thwarted attempts to reach the Straits earlier in the year.
